by Ratan Sharda
To me, the most long lasting contribution of Guruji to consolidation and unification of Hindu society, apart from expansion of Sangh work, was bringing together of heads of various Hindu sects, religions and traditions on one common platform of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, attempted never before in Hinduism’s thousands of years’ of history. To make these leaders to declare untouchability as ‘un-Hindu’ was something only he could achieve due to his humility and charming equation with nearly all spiritual leaders of the time at spiritual level.
His role as the rock solid and aggressive supporter for Hindu refugees abandoned by the then Congress leaders and later Indian government led by them is unforgettable. The price that swayamsevaks paid for their valour is recorded in Sangh history, though neglected by Indian historians for the fear of glorifying ‘communal’ patriots. He and his band of thousands of dedicated workers not only saw to their safe passage to India as far as possible but also their rehabilitation.
Ofcourse, it was under his sagacious and patient leadership that the young RSS survived the highly pernicious and oppressive first ban. No other organisation could have probably survived the ruthless state force under the motivated urge of Nehru to ‘crush’ RSS who was enjoying unparalleled power. It is to his credit that inspite of this ruinous ban, subsequent satyagrah resulting in nearly 77000 supporters spending 5-6 months behind bars, losing their jobs, businesses, Sangh revived and grew in following years. One of the reason may have been that he carried no rancour against anybody and was ready to extend his hand and go an extra mile for harmony in society. He never spoke ill of Pandit Nehru though he personally and RSS suffered immensely due to his malicious bias. He was an admirer of Sardar Patel for his sterling role in unifying India and became his good friend though he had succumbed to Nehru’s partisan politics and supported and continued ban on RSS till circumstances forced him to rescind it. Pandit Nehru probably realised his folly later in life after shameful 1962 debacle and rock solid support given by RSS cadre to the government in this war and invited RSS to join the Republic day parade in 1963. Guruji agreed readily to the proposal.
3. Shri Madhukar alias Balasaheb Deoras (1973-1994)
Balasaheb Deoras was a quintessential product of the organisational process set up by Dr. Hedgewar. He was an ordinary dedicated swayamsevak who grew up into a social worker and leader. He was one of the first recruits in the first shakha started by Dr. Hedgewar. He trained as a lawyer but dedicated his life to RSS work after graduation. .
He was an organiser par excellence, a down to earth person. He was one of the top 3-4 key leaders of struggle to lift ban on RSS in 1948. Guruji was behind bars during most of the time and his young band of colleagues had to carry on with this struggle with periodic guidance from him. Guruji used to say that if you wish to know about Doctorji, look at Balasaheb. He was a totally hands-on person with great rapport with swayamsevaks. He was approachable and open to any question; and patient with his answers, how so ever trivial they may seem to others. He was highly compassionate about swayamsevaks’ problems and very sensitive to social discrimination.
He had a clear and scientific perspective of Indian society and its ills. Though the fight against untouchability and support for reforms in Hindu society had been a silent work of the Sangh for long time, he spoke resoundingly “If untouchability is not bad then nothing is bad in this world. Untouchability must go – lock, stock and barrel.”
The doomsayers in newspapers had raised the bogey of ‘After Guruji who?’ and began writing virtual obituary of Sangh. But, his own silent and strong working, coupled with a personality neutral system developed by Sangh, organisation saw sustained growth of the organisation. Though he himself stayed away from media like his predecessors, he made RSS more media friendly and open to interaction with media.
He was clear that RSS was not in day to day politics, but if situation demanded it would be ready to jump into politics for good of the nation. His decision to align with democratic anti-corruption movement symbolised by ‘Navnirman Andolan’, persuading Jai Prakash Narain to lead the agitation through his colleagues like Nanaji Deshmukh was a courageous move that his opponents had not imagined. His subsequent leadership in the fight for democracy during emergency showed Sangh’s and its cadres’ commitment to democratic ideals. His support for dissolution of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh to merge with the Janata Party must have been one of the toughest decisions of his life. But, it altered the political geography and history of India forever.
Balasaheb Deoras’s lasting contribution was the structured approach he helped create in social service arena where the RSS was present for a long time but no formal structure had been created. What started as a plan to set up 1000 social service projects during Dr. Hedgewar’s birth centenary in 1989 has grown to over 170,000 social service projects now.
His solid backing for equitable harmonious society (samaajik samarasataa) led to a movement that has seen coming together of people with differing views on the problem of discriminative caste system but a common goal of resolving it with social harmony, with a sense of equality, not political haranguing.
He was at the helm of affairs during historic ‘Ekaatmataa Yatra’ and ‘Ram Janmabhoomi Andolan’, movements that changed the perspective of Hindus about their national identity and unity as also dynamics of Indian polity, bringing Hindutva into the political centre stage from peripheries to which Nehruvians and Marxists had been able to push it for decades.
4. Prof. Rajendra Singh alias Rajju Bhaiyya (1994-2000)
A man of very high intellect, Rajju Bhaiyya joined RSS during his post-graduation days in BHU and rose fast in the RSS hierarchy due to his brilliant organisational acumen. He would walk into his classes as a professor directly with his ‘jhola’ of the prachaarak, in his trade mark ‘dhoti kurta’ to give lectures.
His brilliance in science had led Shri C. V. Raman to invite him to join him in research, and later in life by Homi Bhabha. However, he had already chosen his path, to work for the society through RSS.
He was very soft spoken and had a very pleasant, radiant personality. There was something spiritual about his inner core that reflected in his personality. He had a calming effect on anybody who went to meet him. He was addressed as ‘Rajju bhaiyya’ by everybody from his teaching days due to his benign and very helpful personality. He was a very good poet and singer and had helped set music to many RSS songs.
One of the most important beliefs of Rajju Bhaiyya was: “All people are basically nice. One should deal with every person by believing in his goodness. Anger, jealousy, etc., are offshoots of his past experiences, which affect his behavior. Primarily every person is nice and everyone is reliable.”
He had a very sharp memory and would call people and his ex-students by name even after meeting them after years and decades. He had intellectual and physical courage and a steely resolve. He didn’t shy away from expressing his opinion clearly.
His passion for education encouraged RSS associate organisations to reach out to the nook and corners of India and run thousands of schools during his tenure as Sarsanghchaalak. Interestingly, he was in the team of prachaaraks that included Nanaji Deshmukh and Bhaurao Deoras who initiated this education movement of Sangh way back in 1948-1950s with encouraging support of Guruji.
Like other Sarsanghchaalaks he was a firm believer in the concept of Swadeshi and empowering rural economy. Initiating the rural developmental activities, he had declared in 1995 that the utmost priority should be of making the villages hunger-free, disease-free and literate (kshudha mukta, roga mukta, tatha shikshayukta). Today, there are hundreds villages where the rural development work done by swayamsevaks and inspired the people of surrounding villages, their experiments are being emulated by those people.
His had a knack of nurturing relations with students, compatriots, academicians, spiritual and social/political leaders across political spectrum. Rajju bhaiyya was mentor to many political leaders of BJP. He had a sharp political mind but kep
t away scrupulously from active politics. His critical role in RSS can be gauged from the fact that he was the key person during emergency to contact senior bureaucrats, political leaders and activists across India during underground struggle. He was one of the senior RSS functionaries guiding Ram Janmabhoomi movement. It was during his tenure as RSS chief that BJP ascended from being a bit player to become the leading player in national politics, resulting in a BJP led central government finally.
5. Shri K. S. Sudarshan (2000 - 2009)
Sudarshan ji had a sharp intellect, great clarity of thought and was outspoken. A Gold medalist post graduate telecom engineer by training, he was thoroughly read and marshaled his thoughts crisply. He was a Kannadiga who studied and lived his earlier life in Madhya Pradesh and grew as a senior RSS prachaarak in that state. He was a polyglot with knowledge of six languages from Southern and Northern India. He was impatient and blunt in his observations but nobody could challenge his analysis easily.
He was passionate about Swadeshi and travelled to remotest corners of Bharat whenever he hears about a successful or path breaking experiment about innovative indigenous technologies even after retiring from the top post. He was always there to encourage such people. His lectures used to be peppered with anecdotes about such experiments and successful models, illustrating forcefully that Swadeshi was not a dreamy philosophy but something that could make India self-sufficient and society more equitable. His stress on self-sustaining rural economy, sustainable consumption – not just sustainable development, espousal about scientific Hindu way of personal, social and national life for national and global harmony was his theme for many years.
He had studied Islam and Christianity deeply. He could talk to Muslim scholars and Church clergy with aplomb with deep knowledge and present his view point honestly without ruffling their feathers. He was instrumental in helping the foundation of Rashtriya Muslim Manch. It was his major contribution to national integration.
Many analysts consider his inability to take along leaders of other allied movements of Hindutva a weakness in his leadership. However, I think, he was there in the historic period when the whole society and various Hindutva related organisations were in a big churn. Thus, it would not have been an easy task for anybody. His critics, especially in media, could not easily find anything objectionable in his analysis of a situation or his solutions, but are unable to come to terms with his forthright style and tried to present him in a negative light, rather than highlighting his scientific approach to Hindutva.
To my mind, his signal contribution was to bring back unapologetic, well-reasoned aggression to Hindutva philosophy. He presented Hindutva in a scientific manner and explained how it alone could respond to challenges of environmental degradation, civilizational clashes and related issues plaguing India and the world.
6. Dr. Mohan Bhagwat (2009)
Dr. Mohan Bhagwat is a veterinary doctor by training and second generation swayamsevak from Nagpur. His father was one of the first bands of prachaaraks and initiated Sangh work in Gujarat. He has radiance on his face and a twinkle in the eyes and a ready smile; a person with whom you can feel cheerful in any kind of situation. His meetings are generally lively with some light hearted banter too.
He is always open to new ideas and ready to listen. This openness is what attracts workers to him for any discussion. Behind this easy exterior is a firm mind that is focused on the heart of RSS work i.e. the RSS shakhas. He is again, clearly an organisation man giving top priority to organisation above anything else. His lectures are precise, to the point, which show his clarity of thought.
The way he has carried out his responsibilities so far, it seems that he will bring in more vigour to the organisation. He should be able to give new dimension to Sangh work that needs to move in tune with rapid societal changes.
The recent victory of BJP and Modi and his strong backing for generational change in BJP has shown his decisive and forward looking personality. It is an indication that he is going to leave behind a strong stamp of his personality in modern India’s history.
Annexure II
1942, Quit India Agitation and RSS
Year 1942 was literally a year of comprehensive transformation in the history of Sangh. Large number of swayamsevaks volunteered to become prachaaraks. Most of them were highly educated. From Lahore alone there were new 48 prachaaraks, 52 prachaaraks came from Amritsar while Nagpur saw 22 new prachaaraks that year.1 Other centres had similar experience.
But, there were already some of evil omens for the RSS. Central government came out with a gazette on August 5, 1940. As per its sections 56-58, private organisations were prohibited from giving army training or wearing army uniforms. There was no mention of the Sangh in it. But, the language of this gazette indicated for whom it was framed. The crafty British knew very well about the political background of Dr. Hedgewar, so they were keeping a close watch on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh founded by him. This is the reason Central Province government had issued a gazette 8 years back on December 15, 1932 that termed participation of government servants in Sangh illegal. Sangh had come out of such trials successfully. Dr. Hedgewar, who was well versed in public life, was gone and his successor Golwalkar seemed to be raw, relatively inexperienced. So, this seemed to be the right time to strangle it. This was the intention behind this government order.2
Guruji took steps that would help swayamsevaks work undisturbed for their goal without being bothered with this order. The report sent by the central police intelligence department on December 13, 1943 speaks about the impact of his communications. “It is not possible to build a case for banning Sangh. But, it is equally clear that Golwalkar is creating a strong organisation at a rapid pace that would obey orders, maintaining confidentiality and jump into any activity of sabotage or of any other type whenever required as per their leader’s orders. The structure of this organisation looks superficially like that of ‘khaaksaars’. But, the fundamental difference between the two is that the leader of Khaaksaar, Inaayatullah, is a big mouthed imbalanced lunatic, while Golwalkar is a very cautious, crafty and much more capable leader.”3
When Sangh was growing at such a pace, August Kranti (Quit India movement) of 1942 exploded onto the scene. This was the second freedom struggle in the life time of Sangh. First one was the Salt satyagrah of 1930. Dr. Hedgewar had taken part in that movement in his personal capacity after handing over the responsibilities of Sarsanghchaalak to Dr. L. V. Paranjape. Appaji Joshi of Vardha and Dadarao Paramarth had also gone to prison with him. A circular was sent to all the shakhas that ‘ordinary swayamsevak can take part in the satyagrah in his personal capacity after taking permission from the local Sanghchaalak’. After twelve years now, Guruji faced the question of taking part in 1942 movement.
During these intervening twelve years, strong hunger for independence had awakened the entire society across all section of the populace. On the other hand condition of British was deteriorating rapidly in the fierce war. Feeling that their poor position implies our strong position, ordinary people of the country believed that independence was round the corner. Situation for Sangh had also changed a lot for the better. Number of experienced workers had risen. Though, the growth was not very balanced, the Sangh had expanded geographically in large areas. But, it was also true that this expansion was limited to Mumbai Presidency and Central Province. In other places, its presence was more like a seedling. Still the tone of organisation was that of growth. Guruji had to decide about the role of the Sangh in this background.
Guruji convened a meeting of state level workers. It was decided to evaluate the state of the movement dispassionately. Famous revolutionary Dr. Pandurangrao Khaankhoje (who had earned his fame in Mexico) and Sangh strategist Balasaheb Deoras were sent to meet underground leader Jayprakash Narayan with this objective in mind. Guruji was keen to get satisfactory answers to seven questions. The questions were –
1.Part of ‘Dying’ is clear in the slogan ‘Do or Die’. But what
is to be ‘Done’? Has Congress working committee given any directions about it?
2.What is the immediate and long term goal of the movement? That is, what do we want to achieve without fail?
3.What is the working methodology of the movement and how is it going to work?
4.How long will the movement run?
5.You must have estimated your strength, how big is this strength?
6.What is the next move after the movement is successful? And
7.If it is unsuccessful, then what is to be done next?4
Dr. Khaankhoje and Deoras came back after meeting Jayprakash ji. Dr. Khaankhoje’s opinion was that “none of the answers by Jayprakash ji was satisfactory. Not only this, there was no clear direction about what was to be done or not done by the people, next in line, after the front line leaders were arrested.” In light of this information, Guruji held discussions with his colleagues. He was aware of Sangh’s strengths and limitations as an organisation. He had also discovered the actual state of movement. Inspite of all this, he had no two opinions about the lofty goals of this movement. Under the circumstances, Guruji decided that, “The agitation is being conducted for the freedom of the country. Therefore, swayamsevaks, as citizens, can take part in this agitation in whichever part of the country they are. But, as an organisation, Sangh will keep working for national cause, that is, organising the society; without getting involved in the agitation directly.”